


The Epic of Giruga

by Mister_Arcana



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22134379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mister_Arcana/pseuds/Mister_Arcana
Summary: The Four Kingdoms of Asgard, Olympia, Shinkai and Heliopolis await the arrival of the rebirth of an ancient power to help them defeat the dark forces of the Goetia. That time has come.





	The Epic of Giruga

The battle was arduous, until the light of the sun exploded. 

The monsters had arrived, a cloud of death on wings in the sky over vast Geb Canyons and a thundering horde across the severed plateaus, darkness incarnate on approach hell-bent on absolute destruction. From the small, red, impish Decarabia to brutish, musclebound Buer. Shax, the vile steeds, galloped across the land alongside dozens of Ose, the leopard spotted, sword-wielders and Morax, rolled into balls of needle-pointed furry death. There was no gap to great for them to overcome as they made their way across the ground they were bound to.

The owl-headed, Andras, beat their powerful wings to carry comparatively sleek human bodies. Botis, violent blood red hornets of six legs and a seeprrated, long stinger underneath them buzzed through the air. The oddly elegant aim, with their slender, jet black bodies, still radiated malice with swollen bellies holding their deadly ammunition. Stone cherub hovered close by with eyes glowing red, dark giggles spilling past their lips parted in smiles.

They were only a small portion of the countless, everlasting Legion. In the distance, beyond the canyon lay the burgeoning outer cities they would begin a trail of death they would leave toward Heliopolis.

An array of blue energy bolts assailed the demons from afar, explosions engulfing many and sending them back to the Hell from which they came! A lone, floating ship, with an oval shape deck and a rounded base, with a ziggurat toward the stern, gallantly came forward with weapons, soldiers, at the ready in defense of their land, their homes, of Heliopolis! Underneath, slender oval shaped vents emitted a vibrant blue energy that distorted the air underneath the might vessel. Aboard, to the sides each, were four small pyramidal shapes exuding a similar blue light and hovering above them a metallic tube, fitted with handholds soldiers currently grasped. Four smoke barrels, the outside pair slightly shorter than the two inside, were armed at the bow of the ship, from within, and emitting blue glows all.

Soldiers stood their ground, armed with bronze spears and circular shields. Some stood at the ready with snake curved hilts in hand with no blades and shields like the rest. Many were armed with smaller versions of the hovering cannons, glowing blue slits down the sides while their fingers teased triggers.

Above the cannons, stood three figures at the forefront of them all. One man, all muscle and barrel chested, stood tallest, three head taller than even the next tallest that stood center.

"Charge complete, Ma'am!" A soldier from above, standing at the highest tier of the ziggurat, exclaimed!

"Fire second wave!!" The woman stood center ordered, the four main cannons firing with such fierce power that the floating vessel quaked, sliding back across the air as the storm of energy bolts erupted across the dark horde. The blast, the force of it as the volley erupted into blue light and black smoke, reached them in a powerful gust. Still, numbers having dwindled and still Legion numbered in the thousands, the monsters charged ahead.

"Our turn.." The man said, a deep chest growl rumbling, mixed with a guttural hiss. His slate yellow, pupiless eyes, developed black slits in on blink. His teeth exposed in a snarl sharpened. Green scales spread up his arms and legs, a thick growing from the base of his spine. His ohysiology grew taller, thicker, muscle across his veing growing denser as scales covered him from clawed toe to his elongating muzzle. The towering seven foot crocodile man stalked toward the edge with another low, guttural hiss. 

"Don't go having all of the fun, Sobek," The rightmost woman stated, she and the blond haired woman too changing forms. Their compatriot launched himself toward the amassed wicked army with such power that he tilted their vessel downward for a moment! A golden scarab attached to his back spread its wings and emitted a similar blue glow to that being used across their ship and arsenal. With it, he soared forward through the rain of attacks, explosive red balls and blasts of fire and waves of acid, coming out of the other side of the bombard unfazed and unharmed. His mighty jaws tore through several bodies and he reeled back and opened wide to fire a short range volley of bloody, jagged bones that tore several more apart!

The woman that had kept quiet for the time, strode forward too began to change shade. Her light olive skin gradually grew green, scaly, with undertones of darker green and even black. As the change reached her head did her skin peel back and expand, taking the shape of a hood. A long forked to the slipped past her lips as she opened them and four long fangs grew prominent! She retained her human legs, gaining a long, slender tail at her back as well. With them, she launched into the fray after her reptilian brother!

With the scarab attached to her back she kept aloft, but it was just far too slow for her liking. With a smirk on her scaled lips, she extended one arm and sank her envenomed nails into the neck of an Andras! The owl-headed monster screeched, the fast acting toxin eating away at the flesh and spilling blood across its body! The others moved away, but Wadjet had already pulled herself base to base! She kicked the doomed flyer in the chest, spat acid at the one to her left and lashed out around 

That left the blond woman at the head of the ship, watching Sobek savagely tear through every Legionnaire he could reached with arms so powerful and tail unforgiving. His jaws could rip the arms off of those musclebound Buer's even! She watched him go base to base with one in a grapple, open his jaw and snap its head off! He spat it back out with power enough it tore through several of those filthy monsters! Wadjet was systematic, downright sadistic, streaking her claws across and through nonlethal spots that would not kill too quick and she melted hides down to gooey bone with her acid splashes!

"Soldiers of The Seker!" The last of the warriors yet to jump into the fray called to the brave Heliopolite soldiers standing ready! Each and every man and woman aboard the defense ship straightened their backs and readied their weapons, steeled their nerves as the dark mass kept on the approach despite the two powerful foes within their ranks tearing them apart. They didn't have to care. More and more crawled within the darkness of the canyons they were traveling over. "We are the only line of defense here at this time! Soon, we will be joined by the Seqtet and Neshmet forces, but this great of number could very well reach the defenses of Heliopolis by then. That is, if we don't give these bastards Hell and wipe them out first!!"

"YES, LADY SEKHMET!!" 

She was starting to change form, growing taller, broader, her legs bending back like a feline's. "Run wild!!"

Her blond locks grey longer, voluminous, and a blond hair tipped tail grew from the base of her back like it did for her comrades. Claws grew from her transformed feet and her fingertips, her smile revealed her sharpening teeth and her lips curled in at the center like a muzzle of a feline creature. Sekhmet stood tall, proud, like a lioness with her pride before a threat to their home.

With strength even greater than their crocodilian muscle, tipping the ship down, Sekhmet leapt into the fray. She leapt above them, off of the very air itself with a likewise small boom and rocketed through their numbers. She bounced off of bodies, threw herself into a flip with one heel extended and sawed her way through more, talons gleaming in the waves of blood. She changed course, total control of herself at all times, and flung the very blood from her paw and turned them into bullets that assailed more and more Goetia, tearing them apart with the speed.

Sekhmet flexed her claws, magical energy making them glow a vibrant white. She turned to look over her shoulder at the bloody carnage behind her, the dozens upon dozens of demonic bloody bodies sliced apart in her wake. Her lips curled back into a broader smile. She flipped, kicked off of the body of an Andras that collapsed its chest in with her paw prints, and she sent herself hurtling through another batch, and another and another carving out dozens as she flew around inside of their ranks!

Sobek fought through the storm of demon bodies with such a dense hide nothing phased him! Decarabia clung to him, lapped at his scales and their acidic spit sizzled across his scaly hide and it fizzled out within seconds without so much as one small plate out of place. Fruitless effort, before being smashed into brethren in a vicious death roll or charge, or the lethal snakes of Wadjet tore them away! The snake woman was untouchable, body bonelessly contorting to dodge even attack coming her with ease to turn and allow any to harmlessly graze her!

The crocodilian bruiser opened his mighty maw and bit down, snagging and smashing small bodies in his bite! The more he killed, slitted yellow eyes beginning to glow, and his body was growing larger, broader! Until he can smash smaller demons by just catching and closing his fist around them! The energy beams rained down upon from the Andras and Malthus could not stop him!

From pores in her wrists, and from her open hood, Wadjet could launch jets of acidic and poisonous chemicals. Those creatures on the smaller side, unlucky enough to get caught up in her flurry, were eaten alive. They melted away in agonizing pain, screeching at the tops of their lungs making whatever death throe noises they could. The bigger ones, hardier ones with more muscle and constitution to them, they could survive it. But, having their muscle and physicality eaten away only made for easy targets for Sobek to snap in half! 

With her claws at the ready, she reaped many a un-life, tearing through foes and sending her vile concoction running through their black blood. Her arms whipped around in a blurred fury, quickly retracting both to dodge that leaping grab of a Buer and needle fire of Botis' and their fates to failure whether the one blow slew them or not. Her toxin would take its toll, destroy muscle and burn their blood until it was searing the skin from within. Eat away at the muscle, their bones, their wings, their eyes, like ravenous ants with their little pincers jabbing at every fiber and leaving a searing, lancing ache. The real pain would be leagues worse than even that. She had them dropping like flies.

Sekhmet flexed, releasing a pulse of her sheer will that sent her demonic foes reeling. She bowed her head, inhaling, and she threw her head back with a mighty roar of force so immense it caused the ground some meters below to fracture! The power of the sound itself disoriented some of the larger enemies while little Decarabia or Botis exploded within seconds of being too long in the path of the waves. 

She was the fastest, zipping around and cutting the horde of demons apart. She flew to Sobek and the powerhouse rolled himself into a ball in the air, sharp scales down his back making bloody mincemeat of Goetia. Sekhmet struck her thick skinned comrade with a powerful kick that sent him in to a plummeting spin like a massive scaly ball that decimated everything its path! He came crashing down on to canyon rock and spun out of his roll, slid into a turn that put him facing the cloud of beasts from below. Sobek used his vast strength and brought up rocks twice his size from the red rock of the majestic valley and hurled them with incredible speed that smashed several like bugs, and the bugs too! 

He leapt back into the fray! With his mighty jaws he snapped down and caught several hunks of bodies and spit them out in a short range cone! Blood and bone shot out such high speeds they tore through even more bodies, making it rain gore! With a powerful, guttural hiss he tore into the horde on the ground and cut a swath through them, leaving a wake of black blood and destruction. They did turn to stop him, encroach upon Sobek, and died for it.

Still, the Goetia were breaking their line. The main cannons aboard The Seker fired another volley against the mass of monsters when their numbers were so great, such a thick wall between the commanders and the blast, that it was safe. The six mounted guns were turned and soldiers helming them shot down more. The wretched creatures were closing in! More were jumping aboard from below, those that slipped through the canyon valleys unharmed and more were clinging to the ship, crawling up however they could! 

The foot soldiers at the ready took action! This was their duty! Those with only hilts summoned scimitar shaped energy blades and ran ahead, cutting down that would dare defile the deck of this ship with the presence! The gunners had guards who diligently watched the edges and impaled any would-be attackers and kept their fellow ps from being pulled overboard! Heliopolite fighters armed with their own firearms, like smaller versions of the mounted guns, took aim and fired on foes unrelenting.

"Hold fast! Give them all the fight you have!!" Her voice carried over the carnage of battle to send a surge of passion and power through the veins of every man and woman fighting fir their home! "Send them back sniveling to their pits!!" Sekhmet roared as she she soared over over the ship and clawed through the waves. The main cannons fired their fourth volley, the explosion close range and creating a wall of light and black billowing smoke. Sobek and Wadjet sailed through and came down on to the deck as well! "FIGHT!!" She roared, taking to the deck as well.

"YES, LADY SEKHMET!!" Gunners too to the upper platforms, kept covered by Wadjet. Her precision poison and accurate acidic shots sent more than one careening off of the side screaming. Their melted bodies fell out of the air and she was quick to save any of their own forces underneath the rain. She leapt high, arms contorting and turning wholly flexible. She sent herself into a spin and became whirling death with claws extended, arms whipping around her! Wadjet smoothly landed on her feet and she lashed out with her arms from afar, doing the same with her legs as she brought her arms back. Whip out, spit, slash, a shot of poison, and not one enemy could break her stride.

The footsoldiers took formations, never batting an eye in the midst of the dark infestation. The roaring lioness and mountain of scaled muscle were in the fray, Sobek launching waves of pressure with swings of his tail that crushed bodies it struck and Sekhmet tearing them down with claws, teeth and pure strength bolstered by her speed! They were fighting for their lives and for kingdom! "The Malthus are attaching to the hull!!!" Glowing red insects dived aboard the ship and buried their pointed heads into the The Seker, their legs too and their wings opened to reveal swelling backs, glowing brighter and brighter by the second with building force ready to explode!

The air pulsed. Time seemed to slow down. There was a surge in the air that sent a shudder down the spine of not just the warriors aboard The Seker, but every man, woman and child across the continents and, alongside that chilling tingle, they grew awash with what could only be total peace. Sekhmet, Sobek, Wadjet and their forces slowly lowered their arms amid the violence.

All violence ceased. A split moment later was an eruption of golden light, the sun bursting with energy in waves, rings of light spreading out from the burning core, and the creatures of darkness, of sin and malice, gave a screech of agony unlike any heard in the most hellish, painful, death throes. Their bodies were scattered to ash in the golden light, evaporated and their screams faded to nothing like their very un-lives. The people though, were unharmed. They felt the radiant waves across their bodies like the embrace of a loved one.

The Four Kingdoms watched en masse, awed, by the sight of the bright sun overhead changed from its usual blindingly vibrant golden to a brilliant, ever shifting array of colors. The fiery corona burst and became a glittering mist of silver light while the world lighter shone its magnificent spectrum across the lands. The sky turned from its vast, clear blue to an array of lavenders, oranges, yellows and reds as if it was the evening already and all eyes drawn high witness a brief streak, a bit of light across the sky that disappeared with a twinkle. Then came another, and another, and before long much of the sky was filled with the wondrous sight of hundreds upon hundreds of shooting stars! 

Under this light, beings of black were eradicated on this glorious day. Overwhelming joy welled forth in tears, falling down the cheeks of men, women and children, young and old. Hatred, for a time, disappeared from the world with sadness, sickness and strife. Hunger disappeared from the bellies of those it ailed, the aches of old bones abused and ravaged by time healed and elderly felt spry for a time. This was prosperity, utopia, where only love could be felt. Embittered brothers could embrace again, sisters wept over their silly, spiteful grudges. 

Shadow was illuminated. There was no alley, no nook, that was shown under the undeniable radiance of this new light. 

\---

From the weathered fishermen of the craggy shores and ferrymen whom traveled across the rivers more than their feet did across the earth, into every home of the towering, spiraling city of pure white marble carved into gorgeous architecture that was Olympia. The wind roads were filled with men, women and children with eyes to the sky. Animals that inhabited its lush forests, predator and prey together with their eternal struggle for survival quelled, too looked upon the grandeur.

White and gold clad soldiers could no longer hold to the shields emblazoned with the symbol of their grand kingdom, nor their swords, spears or bows. What reason was there to now?

The palace shone with a greater brilliance than even on the clearest day under the typical sun, whose golden light now paled, and the eyes of those that ruled and protected the land were affected still. 

Zeus's grip slacked on the glimmering gold and silver goblet he held and it clattered to the floor of his throne room, spilling red wine across the shining marble. Poseidon too, mouth agape in awe of the beauty in the heavens. Hades raised his to his lips and tilted his head back, once drinking at a refined pace now he gulped down the drink until it spilt past the corners of his lips. He tossed it aside, his ruby encrusted cup, and set his dark gaze on the sky. He chuckled.

"Swiftly, to The Oracles!" The Lightning Lord cried, swiftly racing from his throne room with brothers in tow. He took to the sky on lightning, riding the electric current as it surged from his feet. Hades emitted a black flame from the soles of his jet black sandals and propelled himself after his eldest brother and Poseidon created a whirling disk of water that allowed him to follow suit. 

They took to the skies above Olympia, up a rather narrow, intricate marble tower toward a disk shaped top, the roof of it coming to a long spike at the center. The usually closed off doors beneath many an intricate archway all around the structure were now open to welcome the glorious light. The brothers flew into one of the many alabaster halls lined with grand statues of marble depicting great heroes of the past and present age, with blank pedestals to welcome the future few to receive this high honor. Before long, in their haste, they came to the very center. A half-sphere shaped room with nine thrones recessed into the wall and evenly spaced lay before them.

In the center of of the room, Hippolyta was sat with hand over her mouth. She lay there, legs out to the side while she support her upper body with her other hand against the glittering floor that twinkled like the night sky. 

"He... he has returned!!" The high oracle wept, rising to kneel on her knees. She tore away the wetted white silken veil she wore over her eyes and her tears flowed freely, "I have the seen it! The glory of him! The Hero of Kings has returned!" The Oracle lifted her hands to the grand ceiling that too resembled the night sky. The High Council of Nine each lifted a hand as well, to the gloriously shining, rainbow light star cascading its magnificent glow across the room.

The High Lord of Olympia, Zeus, trembled with eyes upon that star.

\---

The lands of Asgard, from icy lakes amid snow banks and beautifully winter weathered trees, to the tallest mountain peaks, was illuminated under the warmth of this heavenly display. That crisp layer of soft, white crystal did melt, but glistened under the radiant sky. The oil lamp lit mead halls teeming with laughing drunkards and those well on there way past plastered, where food and drink were plentiful and merriment just as much, it all came to an abrupt halt. Oaken doors to barracks, businesses, homes, creaked open. Stunned faces and wide eyes were greeted by the glow of the immeasurable beauty in the sky.

Atop, a hill, a girl lowered her hand drawn back with a ball of crisp, packed snow in her clutches. The boy sat before her after he was made to fall dropped his defensive arms. They watched the sky, the shower of stars around the glittering sun. 

"Cr-crying, brother? Bah, want-want to bear father's training again??" She asked him teasingly. She offered her hand to him.

"Gh!" The lad could not resist the urge to wipe his uncontrollable tears, "Sh-shut your gob! You're crying too!" The boy, a spitting image with shorter, wild hair, took the hand of his sister to rise to his feet.

"You threw sand up in me eyes, legbiter!" The redhead bit back half-aggressively. She briskly wiped her forearm across her eyes to rid her feckled cheeks of any tears before giving her twin a punch to his shoulder. A small tap, nothing at all when not strength could be mustered while in awe of this beauty. Her arm fell limp to her side for a moment before they rose to hold herself.

"Mighty beautiful, eh, Magna?" He asked, to which she nodded, smile on her face.

Heavy boots crunched through the ice and snow! "I have had the greatest privilege to peer in to the well of time and space, of knowing... I have looked upon the beauty of the Nine Realms, many a woman too, though they did not compare to that of my Frigg.." An old, gnarled, wizened voiced joined the bickering siblings. Modi felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder and he moved aside for an greying, spear toting man.

He ran weather beaten, battle scarred fingers across his grey-streaked, dark auburn mustache down through his thick beard that held a woven braid of grypay hair through the center. A deep chuckled rumbled up from his chest, "All of that... It just seems to pale now. Don't go tellin' my dear Frigg that, kiddos." The got a smile from the twins before all three settled into a silence, watching this phenomenal sky. "That blessed day is upon us now.. Mm, as much as I want to bask in this light for every second I can, I ought to get back."

Truly, to tear his lone eye from the majestic sight of this glorious display made the old warrior feel a tinge of regret. To miss this now, when he had waited many a winter, caused him to heave a sigh.

"Where are ya headed, Grandpa Odin?" The younger lad, Modi, asked. The twins turned to watch the back of their elder venture back down the hill toward

"I be on my way to the throne. I feel as though I will be needing a seat dealing with this lot!" He raised a gloved hand and gestured toward himself, "Come. Join me if you like," Knowingly, he answered the question on their like minds. "Meet the man who will save this world of ours."

The twins shared a look, matching grins pushing up their freckle dusted cheeks, "I wanna see this grand hero for me self, gramps!" Magna exclaimed, first to jog after their grandfather with Modi not far behind. They passed their weapons set aside and the sister collected a sheathed greatsword nearly as tall as she and her brother a pair woodsman axes and secured them through loops in his belt. They ran after the grizzled warrior that ruled these frigid lands and fell in step flanking him.

\---

The ocean, vast and amazing, shimmered with an astounding beauty like the backs of billions of rainbow beetles and rippled so gently like fields of grain. Sport halted, music and performances as well, to witness this moment. Eyes cast to the sun did not sting, it was not painful to stare on this wonder of wonders. No, it was soothing and elating and to do so was if it was looking at the radiant smile of someone benevolent... Infectious in the momentous of ways where even mouths were few teeth to call their own did smile. 

At the center of it all was a palace, atop a grand platform of stone depicting a massive, seeping mural of sea and sky, of the house kamon wreathed in light at the center of symbols of bravery, benevolence and power. It towered over all, this place the people of Shinkai revered as much as any temple, with many structures to it of varying size caped arched roofs of beautiful construct. Every individual place held the same family symbol at the center in black with a red circle. Of a shape skin to a raven, with spread wings and three legs.

At the very top, the long row of ornate, finely crafted paper sliding doors parted with resounding cracks for the family to emerge into the light and warmth that made managed to reach them. War stratagem were previously being discussed, left behind now... For what reason was there? Violence felt, for a time, like a long, left behind shadow of the old world.

The middle child, dressed finely in white, gold and red robes and silks, raised the veil from her eyes and the golden orbs behind it glistened with tears. She brought hands gently to her lips as hushed, choked sobs racked her body. Legs trembling, growing weak, she collapsed. She would have, if not for the arms that wrapped around her torso to catch her.

"Sister.." He said softly, silver eyes too glistening with tears, "I am sorry."

"Brother..!!" She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, "Brother, I... I..." Words failed her, her entire body shaking, "Uwwaaahhh!!! Please never let go!!" The dam broke, the woman with jet black hair and golden eyes squeezing her elder brother and weeping into the dark blue kimono he wore. 

"It is so good to hear your voice again.." He said softly, hands comignto rest on the back of her head and between her shoulders, "Amaterasu..." His own wet tears fall unto her head.

In a swirl of wind, another young man appeared. A far more wild man, still holding some air of regality in his dress, appeared there mere feet from the embraced siblings. He met the eyes of his father and the Emperor simply nodded his head, a gesture that the man returned. His crimson red eyes, beginning to wet with rising tears that continued regardless how he tried to rub them away, turned to the rest of his family.

"Dammit, c'mere!!" He exclaimed, throwing himself at the pair with open arms and holding them tight, hands clutching at their kimonos, "Someone oughta talk to Uzume about all this rain!!" He sobbed, earning chuckles from his brother and sister.

A proud father looked upon his children with swelling love in his chest. To tear his gaze away from this equally rare moment, knowing it would disappear with the grand display in the sky, was a difficult thing to do. In his wisdom, he new that this was a moment meant to pass, one meant to be cherished, and it was a sight he would hold to dear memory. 

His three children embraced, family once more, he knew to be a vision of Shinkai's ideal future and it was one Lord Izanagi hoped to see in his time. "Inari," A moment later, a woman robed in a fine, silken red and white short kimono, feet bare and ankles swathed in a gently burning blue flame. Her sleeves fell well past her hands and did not connect to the torso, leaving her shoulders bare. Hair, white as driven snow, silver fennec ears tipped with white atop her head and a matching, long, fluffy fox tail tipped by that same blue flame ringed around her wrists.

Already, she knew. Inari raised a sleeved hand and a single white flame the size of her head formed in the air, gently hovering before the Emperor's face. "Find him."

"Easily," Came her reply.

\---

The desserts, its vast orange sands, glittered with a light that made the dancing sands on the wind like fire across every rippling dune. Arid, sweltering heat mingled with a far cooler breeze that wandering nomads and merchants took time to bask in. The widespread, roving hills of such a usually harsh environment was made bearable, borderline paradise, for a time. The greens of oasis' became greener, the water cooler and crisp to every grateful, parched throat. This incredible moment spread far and wide to every small village to the sprawling city of Heliopolis. Houses of red clay, stone and wood, businesses of like construction, lined streets, some stacked unevenly on higher grades, some multi-floored. 

People of every age flooded into the streets, and they kneeled. They took to their knees, closed their eyes and opened their arms to embrace and praise the glorious light.

The grand pyramid at the center of it all shone at the very top, reflecting the prismatic light and creating misty shimmer across Heliopolis. At the base stood the not quite as a grand palace of the High Pharaoh, a sprawling stone home to the ruler of the desert lands. Enlivened by greenery neatly arranged in symmetric ways, crisp blue veins of water ran through the property and stretched through the city streets where to drink from them was free. On the highest terrace, upon his throne, sat Osiris himself. Hands clasped before his chest, jade mask reflecting the grand light displayed across the vast sky.

"He is awake.." The Great Pharaoh rose from his throne and raised his arms as if welcoming as he strode out on to the large veranda of his palace. There, his children gathered looking on like the masses. He drew the gleaming gazes of his children and declared to them, affirming what they knew within, "The Hero of Kings wakes from his slumber. Let us go and greet him."

One among them had long since scampered off to do just that. Beneath the great palace, beneath the chamber of Aten, she spoke the sacred words entrusted to her by The Great Pharaoh. Doors of thick, dark stone and ornate, gold filigree slowly slid open to a grand room of stark white stone, of ionic pillars stretching from the floor to the high ceilings where the grooves were lined with shimmering gold. The ceiling cast a soft, bright glow across the room like natural light, though there was not a single shadow nor even a speck of darkness. At the very center, between eight pillars set in a circular fashion, set a square pool. It sat there, raised, with one small step to its edge.

He once laid within that crystalline blue pool, immobile, floating on the water with no pulse, no breath, not a thought to be read. Even the water, despite his presence, was ever calm with not one ripple. It was from by his side, from the edge to his left and always there, she would admire his features sitting there for hours out of the day. Droplets still ran down his form even now, while he sat on the edge facing the door. His clothes were wet as if he just come from being submerged. His jet black hair was damp, weighed down, falling around his face. He pushed his fingers back through his dark hair and his golden eyes looked up, falling on the only other person in the room.

A smile pulled at his lips. She moved toward him with fluid steps, stepping like a dancer with toes first and her heel would come down, gracefully laying one foot in front of the other. The newly awakened noticed all that he could, seeing for the first time now. 

"Go~od Morn~ing," She sang, hands behind her back. Her hair was a waterfall of black, shimmering softly under the lights of his room. Long strands framed her face that fall past chest level, near the end of each the hair was secured by silver, emerald bearing cuffs. In the back, the rest of her black locks that fell to her behind was styled in the same way. The gentle sway of the sheer lengths of fabric connected to golden bangles on her biceps to matching bangles on her wrists. The gentle way her hips moved, the silken skirt wrapped around them secured with a golden belt.

"That's a familiar voice.." He said with a smile. It was, and it felt like such a long time since it graced his ears.

"Really?" She asked, to which he nodded. She gave a short hop at the corner and walked in the same fashion to where he sat. The girl leant forward, shimmering black hair falling over her shoulders and she brazenly showed a deeper view of her cleavage past the white robes wrapped around her chest. He focused on her eyes.

How curious. "I never would have thought you could hear me," Her swishing black tail brushed across his chin, his lips, and his hand came to caress it, "Yours is new to the ear. I quite like it~" And she actually purred, leaning closer. Chest pushing against his bicep, a playful giggle passing her curled up lips.

"I have this face engraved in my mind.." She told him, fingers coming up to trace along his jaw, "It has been a joy to picture~ I am Bastet. Time for me to become familiar with your name. Tell me~"

Staring into those eyes, a pair of glimmering jewels, he was entranced. There was an irresistible urge to know she was real for him, hand rising to gently brush his knuckles against her cheek, feeling the very warm flesh under them. 

"... Giruga. My name is Giruga."

"Welcome, Giruga," The voice of Osiris carried through the room just like one of royalty. It drew the gaze of the seated pair to the opening doors as the Lord Pharaoh walked through with his entourage of warriors, his children. Curious eyes and noises, looks of elation and a couple even ran up to greet him! "Mighty firm handshake! Haha, powerful!" A man of towering bulk clasped hands with him, letting a laugh erupt from that barrel chest and fill the chamber! 

"Does anyone else things he looks a bit thin??" A taller woman on the plumper side of her physique took his arm in hand to feel the muscle, his face to feel the fullness of his cheeks by pulling on them, ran her hands over her hands over his ribs and abdomen, "He looks thin!! My word, this boy meeds to eat!"

"Unsurprising, for one who has slept so long," A dark skinned man clad in blue stated as he encircled Girgua around the rest of his compatriots, "And intriguing as well that his condition is as healthy as it is."

Bastet was getting a bit testy with all of this people around!

It was the Pharaoh to part the crowd around the lad finding himself overwhelmed and overjoyed. His bandaged wrapped hands came to rest on Giruga's shoulders. 

"Come." He said, "Greet your new world."

Together, with Osiris at the helm and Giruga close behind, Bastet leaping around her brothers and sister and taking to Giruga's side. They shared a smile, "You'll be fine. I'll see to that~" She assured him and the newly awakened young man nodded, silently holding her to that promise if it would meant her by his side longer. The group took to the lift, where Giruga promptly collapsed as the floor started to rise! It was an odd sensation to say the least, prompting a few chuckles from group encircling him, even Bastet as she kneeled next to him to bring the lad back on to his feet.

They walked out into the light...

"Seems we have much to discuss, Great Osiris." Before them as they brought Giruga out into the world, where the sun had returned to normal and the mystifying light had faded returning the day to normal, waited three apparitions. A shimmering, misty silver raven whose left eye burned with dark blue fire perched upon one of the decorative, rune inscribed obelisks on either side of the throne. The middle took the form of a fox, body comprised of flowing, fluffy white cloudy matter with red wrapped around its neck like a kerchief. The last was a blue falcon, feathers a mix of blue, lighter blue and white and electricity sparked around its body while its eyes glowed a shimmering white. It was the fox to speak in such a deep and regal voice.

The raven's eye-flame surged, "How in the Nine Realms did ye hide him all this time??" A gruff voice spoke through it.

"I am quite curious.." Said with falcon with a tilt of its head, voice of the speaker refined, as deep as the rest to carry even outdoors, "Nothing has ever escaped the eyes of my council. Everyday I go to them, curious if they had found that sacred successor, a tomb, something..." Those glowing eyes looked upon the young man at Osiris's side.

The raven skipped forward looked to the awoken young man with a tilt of its head and the fox's eyes simply fixed upon him, "We all searched for so very long... And for a time my faith in any end had begun to wane.." Said the somber Emperor.

"Hah, never once did I!" The One-Eyed King laughed, the spectral raven spreading its wings! The fox let out a scoff. "That belief we held paid off! Finally!"

"Indeed.. Before you all, you all have my greatest apology," The Great Pharaoh bowed his head, bringing a hand to his chest and holding the other arm out to his side, "I have harbored this secret for some time. My first step in righting my wrongdoings to my dear friends, is that.." He laid a hand on Giruga's shoulder while he stared at the three mystical messengers, "I shall bring along an honored guest to our table. Please, let us convene, take to Babel at once and I shall explain all!"

The messengers nodded and vanished before them. Giruga folded his arms and looked out upon the world with a smile.


End file.
